Re: Is this math test too easy?

From: Mxsmanic (mxsmanic_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 11/20/04 

Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 19:38:43 +0100

Dave Rusin writes:

> Do doctors just descend, fully prepared, onto the planet?

No, but neither are they accomplished mathematicians.

> If you'd like to be a doctor you need to get into medical school.
> In the US, at least, that means excellent grades in biology,
> chemistry, and physics. You can't take those courses without
> a good background in math through calculus and stats.

Almost all of which doctors have forgotten by the time they start actual
practice. Just because schools require these for the degree doesn't
mean that they are necessary in the field of medicine.

> I don't know about the education system in your part of the
> globe. Where I live, you wouldn't have a prayer of finishing
> college if you found that test challenging.

Maybe. But college isn't anything like life after college. It's a
self-justifying universe. You need math in college because college
teaches you math.

> The most surprised of all are the business students who think they're going
> to learn how to make a lot of money, and then find they need to pass calculus.

I can understand their surprise. They'll never need calculus once they
get out of school, and the time they spend trying to pass it will be
time wasted.

> I'm not really sure what prompted you to start this thread.

The notion that not having hard questions on a math test is
self-evidently a bad thing. Even if the math is only
fourth-grade-level, that's only because the levels of math taught in
school are arbitrary. A level of math suitable for fourth grade is also
suitable for most of life after school.

> Everyone I know wants nothing but opportunity and a full life for themselves and their
> children. You with your "education is all fluff" attitude must be trolling.

It worries me that you don't see the problem here. 

-- 
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

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